Embrace the world of ceramics with our special guest, Ammie Williams, the creative genius who carved her niche from small-town painter to a sought-after ceramic artist in Atlanta. Ammie will be spilling the beans on the secrets of her success, including how she ingeniously leveraged social media as a tool for business growth. We promise, you’ll leave this episode with a first-hand account of surviving and thriving in the creative industry.
Navigating the complex labyrinth of the online world, we dip our toes into the uncharted waters of parasocial relationships. Ever thought about the intricate dance of maintaining boundaries with your audience, or how to handle those who overstep? Get firsthand insights from Ammie's experiences and strategies for managing parasocial relationships in this digital era. From discussing her artistic journey to the creation of her popular product - the Rainbow Mug, Ammie bares it all.
Switching gears to the nitty-gritty of entrepreneurship, Ammie and I shed light on the trials and tribulations of juggling creativity with business. Listen to Ammie's remarkable stories about hiring, task-oriented organization, and the transformative power of journaling. She gives us a peek into her world of creativity, with her Hobonichi Cousin planner serving as the creative cockpit, driving her projects and tasks. Strap in for an exhilarating ride through the world of ceramics, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
Connect with Ammie
https://www.instagram.com/ammieyall/
Grab your visual resume template
Embrace the world of ceramics with our special guest, Ammie Williams, the creative genius who carved her niche from small-town painter to a sought-after ceramic artist in Atlanta. Ammie will be spilling the beans on the secrets of her success, including how she ingeniously leveraged social media as a tool for business growth. We promise, you’ll leave this episode with a first-hand account of surviving and thriving in the creative industry.
Navigating the complex labyrinth of the online world, we dip our toes into the uncharted waters of parasocial relationships. Ever thought about the intricate dance of maintaining boundaries with your audience, or how to handle those who overstep? Get firsthand insights from Ammie's experiences and strategies for managing parasocial relationships in this digital era. From discussing her artistic journey to the creation of her popular product - the Rainbow Mug, Ammie bares it all.
Switching gears to the nitty-gritty of entrepreneurship, Ammie and I shed light on the trials and tribulations of juggling creativity with business. Listen to Ammie's remarkable stories about hiring, task-oriented organization, and the transformative power of journaling. She gives us a peek into her world of creativity, with her Hobonichi Cousin planner serving as the creative cockpit, driving her projects and tasks. Strap in for an exhilarating ride through the world of ceramics, creativity, and entrepreneurship.
Connect with Ammie
https://www.instagram.com/ammieyall/
Grab your visual resume template
Welcome to Mind Over Medium, a podcast for artists who want to make money doing what they love. When you tune in a twink, you will learn how to attract your ideal commissions, approach galleries for representation, have a great online launch of your work and how to do it all with less overwhelm and confusion. You will have the opportunity to hear from amazing artists who will share how they have built their successful creative businesses. My hope is to create a space where artists and the creative curious can gather to learn about one of the most important tools creative entrepreneurs need in their toolbox their mindset. Thanks so much for tuning in to Mind Over Medium podcast. Let's get started.
Speaker 1:Amy Williams is a ceramic artist whose playful designs and brush lettering feature on her ceramics for sale, her wholesale Biscuere designs and her digital downloads. She is an expert in social media and offers trainings and audits to help step up your game. In this conversation with Amy, she shares her thoughts about social media, her online launch process and so many other great things. I really appreciate her honesty and willingness to share with all of us. Enjoy my creative friends. All right. Well, I'm going to start by saying I'm really happy and honored that you agreed to chat with me, and today I'm chatting with Amy Williams, who you probably know as Amy Yall on.
Speaker 1:Instagram and I appreciate you being here today. Do you want to take a minute and introduce yourself? Yeah, hi.
Speaker 2:My name is Amy Williams, but everyone does think my last name is Yall, which is very funny. I'm a ceramic artist here in Atlanta. I've been on my own like working as my own boss now for almost four years, which is crazy to think about, and I'm love it most of the time. I completely understand.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, well, I guess I didn't know your timeline. Can you tell me a little bit about that? How did you get into your where you are now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I moved to Atlanta in 2008, like to go to college, and I was going to be the next biggest painter. That was like my main goal. And then I got to college. I grew up in a really small town where I thought you could do that. And then I got to college and was like, oh actually, I guess you can't and that's difficult. And so I switched gears and did art education with, just like drawing and painting is my. What are they called Concentration?
Speaker 1:Oh gotcha.
Speaker 2:That's how long it's been since I've been in college.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I needed a part-time job because, you know everything, life is expensive. And I started working at a pottery studio here in Atlanta and I was just like studio assistant for many years and then they kind of saw some talent that I had with like teaching and they found out that I was going to school for teaching and they kind of came to me with a proposal at graduation and said, you know, we really don't think that you want to be a teacher, so why don't you stay here and create all of our, you know, adult classes and kids camps and things like that and teach them and train on it and everything? And I kind of began this journey as like lead artist, creative coordinator. Like it was a small company, so you know, you wear mini hats in that way and I just learned so much about ceramics I had done it in college but I was doing it in a more hand-building way, wheel-throwing way, and this was a paint-your-own-pottery studio where it comes to you in bisque form and I was teaching all these people how to be creative and, like you know, customers would walk in and they would say, like I'm not an artist, I don't know how to do this, and I was able to show them, like with really complicated materials like glaze, you know, that has to go through this firing and this chemistry that nobody really understands. I don't understand and I became like really addicted to that. Like I love showing people that they can be creative, like, and I love kind of giving them tips and tricks for the materials that they use.
Speaker 2:And yeah, it was. It was good for a long time. It was also bad for a long time at that particular place and about a decade in they called me up for a meeting and I thought that it was going to be for that. We were going to discuss Christmas and they let me go. Oh dear, it was kind of out of nowhere and it really really messed with me because I had built a name for myself in the industry. The paint your own pottery industry is very small. There's only like worldwide, probably like 800 studios.
Speaker 1:Oh, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like a really close knit industry and a lot of people knew me and I was teaching at these conferences and had worked really hard to you know, perfect my skill and my craft and yeah it just, it really threw me for a loop and I had wanted to leave for a long time but didn't know how.
Speaker 2:And I mean, you know, of course it was a blessing in disguise that they let me go. I couldn't quite see it at the time. But yeah, I branched off. Basically I was trying to keep the momentum going. So I branched off on my own and I still do a lot of teaching within the industry, but I mainly sell my finished wares, you know, on the internet. I don't do too many markets these days and I create my own disc designs. So I design my own disc and they're manufactured and sent to these paint your own pottery studios all over the world. And it's crazy, I didn't know that that was like a possibility. If you would have asked me 10 years ago, like what I'd be doing, I didn't think it was going to be this.
Speaker 2:Yeah, also, if you ask my parents what I do, I don't think they could tell you. But yeah, that was a very long winded answer to your question.
Speaker 2:But that is how I got here. I got here not really by choice. I on my own, by choice and some. You know the first couple of years were fun and exciting and you know my business grew in the pandemic. I am grateful for that time that I had. But I have not learned how to work outside of the pandemic again, if that makes sense. Like it was, I was working so many hours and then now it's like, well, I don't want to work that hard again, but I need to work that hard again. So it's been an interesting year or so. I'm like trying to figure out where I stand in this after pandemic world. You know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it is interesting when you say that, yeah, it was perfectly acceptable to like work all the time, or do you Because there was a time Nothing else to do and it was an outlet and it almost like helped you stay sane to have this ability to be able to you know work, and so I can see how that would happen and just become a habit Like oh no, I work all the time.
Speaker 1:I see, you know, we used to be in the same studio complex and, yes, you do work a lot. I will say I can attest to that. I mean, everybody there did or does. So that's, I think, what sometimes people don't understand like to make a business out of it, you have to be willing to work a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you know, if I don't go to work, I don't get paid, and that is, you know, a kind of frightening thing. Sometimes there are no like paid vacations, or you know, this morning I had therapy and then physical therapy and I went to the gym. I haven't worked yet today and it's 4pm and it's like oh there, you know, there goes the whole day.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:But you know there is flexibility and freedom there, which I appreciate, and I think I would be really miserable if I had to show up to an office at a certain time every day, or, you know, someone else's studio for a certain amount of operating hours. I think that would be very hard.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree I have. I mean in the past I've done that and it's hard, it's hard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah I agree.
Speaker 1:Well, you have this amazing way of engaging on Instagram. I mean, literally, when I see your stories pop up, I like settled in, I'm like okay, here we go.
Speaker 2:I love it so much Thank you.
Speaker 1:What are your thoughts about, like I guess, maybe the parasocial aspect of it? I mean, tell me when I'm getting. This happened organically, and to just tell me your thoughts about that part.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would love to. This is one of my favorite things to talk about, so I?
Speaker 1:Oh, I didn't know that.
Speaker 2:Yes, All right. At the studio that I worked at forever, I got to a point there were three studios and I was driving around to all of them all the time and when I would set up base at one of the studios, a lot of the staff that were underneath me would lean on me too heavily because I had been there the longest and any question they had, they'd come and ask me. So it became counterproductive to go into the studio if I had samples to paint, essentially. So I started working from home in like 2017, I think, and I had never done that before and it was a learning curve, for sure. But I would get incredibly lonely. I'm used to seeing other people and talking to customers and talking to coworkers, and I didn't have that anymore and I couldn't just call it my girlfriend at work and be like hey, I just thought you know she'd be like you, stop doing that.
Speaker 2:So I had just started an Instagram account for my ceramics because I didn't want to put it on my personal Instagram page and I had all of the stuff that I wanted to share and I wanted to connect with the people in my industry and I just started talking to my Instagram stories. They were relatively new at the time, at this time, and I mean you think I story a lot now. Back then, I mean it would be like seven full minutes. I mean it was like I had my own TV show and I loved it and not that many people were watching back then. But I actually still have like an amazing amount of people that were around back then that are still as dedicated, which is really special to see.
Speaker 2:But yeah, it became like an outlet, it became a friend, it became a coworker and I had a lot of fun with it and I still say all the time like I think I'm the last person having fun on the internet and I love it and I want to remain that way. But the parasocial relationships are so tough and you know I share. I share a decent amount about myself and my life. I don't share everything, contrary to popular belief.
Speaker 2:You know, if you pulled my audience, I'd be like no, I'm pretty sure she shares everything, but there's a lot of stuff that I don't share. But in my audience knows me pretty well, but I don't know them, and so sometimes this thing happens where they will overstep because they think we're best friends, but I actually don't know you at all and it gets to be really sticky. And you know, in the first time I ever like stood up for myself with someone it was a couple years ago now and Elaine and I were eating McDonald's and I, you know, shared a picture of it.
Speaker 2:And this, this girl who had been pretty like present in my DMs, responded and was like I can't believe you're eating that trash. Like why would you eat like such trashy stuff like McDonald's? And I just, I don't know why I was like that's incredibly inappropriate, like you don't get to comment on what I put into my body, like that's, you just don't. And she came back and I think I said something like you don't have to be here, like if you, you know you, you can unfollow me. And she came back and she was so apologetic and she was like you know, I have my own insecurities and I'm bigger than you are, and I feel bad when I eat that stuff, and so that was me kind of like you know, lashing out essentially at me you know, and we ended up having a nice conversation about it, but that takes a tremendous amount of energy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it's something that happened a few years ago and I'm still. I still think about it all the time. I still think about it every time we have McDonald's.
Speaker 2:I still think about it every time I share what I'm eating on the internet because, of this person who thought she was such a champion for me felt comfortable to come and say something rude to me. You know what is someone else who barely likes me going to say? And you know, over the years I have changed what I share online and a lot of it is because it can be very not fun anymore because of the like quickness people feel they can talk to you or the how accessible you are to them.
Speaker 2:I, you know, before we started recording, we were talking about like pain that we've had in injuries and I last year threw my back out and I was unable to work for a while and it pushed my schedule back. And I shared this frustration with my audience of just saying, like you know, it's incredibly just disheartening when you want to go to work and you can't physically go and it's messing with everything. You know and I'm sorry and I'll, I'm doing my best. And this girl again, who had been a champion for me, purchasing a lot of things for me, being excited for me, sent me a message that was like girl, you sound like my doctor's office who takes on too many patients and then makes everyone wait, like you need to get it together, kind of thing, and it has it like that.
Speaker 2:Still, I actually have not been able to like open another message from this girl because it just like hurt my feelings so badly. So, anyway, that was again an incredibly long thing to say no that I enjoy it, but it becomes very tedious and, yeah, I find myself not either, not sharing how I want to share because of the para social relationships I always want to accidentally say paranormal or like. You know, I don't want to open my messages sometimes because I'm like I can't possibly have this conversation with you right now because it takes entirely too much energy. And I think if anyone is on the, you know, just has an Instagram account and they're not trying to like, promote themselves on it, they're probably listening to me say this and they're like why? Why poor you, you know, but it's like that's the truth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, I mean, that's your real life experience and I can understand how those things take a toll and impact you. I mean I felt like I'd finally made it when I had my first like troll. You know, like me, I did it. Yeah, I know which is bad that. But yeah, you know, I work in my coaching business. I work with a lot of people who really this is a big sticking point they're like I don't want to have to get on social media, like you don't have to. You don't have to. You're going to have to figure out another way to let people know you're out there and you can certainly do that. But it's just you know part of where we are right now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do Instagram audits for people like that's a service you can book for me.
Speaker 1:I know I need one of those.
Speaker 2:I really enjoy them and I just did one for this girl and she said, you know. I asked like, are you comfortable filming yourself or are you comfortable being faced a camera? And she said, yes, but I don't wear makeup and I'm only ever in a white t-shirt. So I use this one filter and I like tried not to get all like therapy girl on her, because I just want to be like well, why, Like, what is it that? Why don't you want to show up for yourself in this way and promote yourself? Like it's so much deeper than just like oh, I don't, you know, I don't know I'm nervous.
Speaker 2:I sound stupid on the internet, you know but, I think everybody can get past it. I think, again, you know, not for everyone, but when people can show up and like show glimpses of who they are, I just think that's so special and like sets them apart from everyone else. But yeah, it is hard.
Speaker 1:I agree. Yeah, I think too. Oh gosh, I had a thought and I completely lost it.
Speaker 2:Oh well, it'll come back to me. I cannot stop talking, so I'm sorry. No, no, no.
Speaker 1:Please no it's awesome About showing up. Yeah, that is when these you know, if I have a client who it has to be on social media, of course I'm not going to force any waking. That's your choice. But your progress is probably going to be slower. I mean, that's just the reality of it. Maybe, maybe not, but I had to really reframe it and think of it as just a free marketing for my business. I like it. Like this is why would I not take advantage of this and I could do a better job. I you know.
Speaker 2:I'll everybody. And yeah, I mean it's, it's a full-time job, it can be for sure.
Speaker 1:Oh, my gosh for sure. Yes, totally agree. Well, I appreciate you sharing that. You do an amazing job, too, I've noticed, of launching and selling your work online. And how did you start?
Speaker 2:that is such a funny story. So I am most well known for these things called rainbow mugs. They are, yes they're awesome. Explain. It is just like so, sounds so silly. It is a white mug with a custom colored rainbow with black speckles and you know your name or whatever short phrase you want lettered on the bottom and we just actually I say we sometimes in my business, which makes me laugh because it is just me- I am coming up on the three year anniversary of those like right now it's happening and it just started.
Speaker 2:I had agreed to sell my stuff at a Christmas market, like right after I'd gotten laid off, and I was painting all this Christmas stuff and you know, I had like cookies for Santa and you know Christmas ornaments and all this cutesy, cutesy stuff and I was just burnt out.
Speaker 2:You know, it was like it was just too much Christmas. And so I you know, it's like a three weekend commitment and so I would go it was in my hometown of Dublin, georgia, so it'd go down and sell and then come back during the week and you know, paint and fire more stuff and then, you know, sell it again. So I was just like in the process of making stuff for such a long time and I finally, one day it was towards the end of the market and I said I'm gonna just forget Christmas and I'm gonna make something that I want, because I need to focus back on that and I'm a queer person. I don't necessarily like relate. You know my life isn't like filled with rainbows and stuff, but I just thought like, oh, I'll just put this little rainbow on this mug, like it'll be cute.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I posted it on my Instagram and it like a lot of people are like I want that, I want to buy that from you, and I had sold it at the market. But I thought I'll, you know, I'll open it up and see if anybody's interested. And the first sale I did I do them all pre-order because it's all custom I sold like 10, you know, and it took a couple hours and then you know the next one if three weeks or so later, I put like 25 up and they sold out in 15 minutes and it just like started snowballing and it wasn't it wasn't really me being like, come and get it, this item's hot, Like it was.
Speaker 2:It was me showing the process of what I was doing, of creating these mugs you know, planting the mugs, painting the mugs, firing everything. I was showing like such a deep behind the scenes. Look at it and I would ship it to these people and then they would put it on their Instagram and then it would just get like. For a while it has really slowed down, but every like rainbow mug release that I would do, I would get anywhere from like 100 to like 500 new followers.
Speaker 2:Because people are like tagging me, like tagging me in their. You know, once they get theirs and they're so excited and you know they have to wait a few weeks for them to be made and sent out. So it's like they're just so pumped and, like the word of mouth, got these mugs like a life of their own. And I'm, this year I'll hit 1000 mugs sold. That's amazing, it is truly. I mean, it's hard to wrap my mind around, like if I didn't see the numbers, I don't know if I would believe it, but and they don't seem to be slowing down and it is, I feel, incredibly so thankful that they are so popular, because I just never would have imagined that they would have taken off. I think that I definitely have a very like love hate relationship with them. A little bit. It is like I'm like oh, here we go, like I've sold 1000 mugs almost and I have, you know, touched, painted fire, you know, shipped 1000 mugs, you know, so it you know it's it feels like a lot, but yeah, I love it.
Speaker 2:I do feel a little. This is not what you asked.
Speaker 2:And you can tell me today because I'm like I feel like I feel a little like sometimes occasionally like stuck with them because they do sell so well and they I hope they don't ever slow down. But it does make me very fearful to try something new, because what if it doesn't sell, so that you know there's that. But yeah, the, the launching everything like I just kind of accidentally started with this model of here's the rainbow mug sale date like marker calendars. Here's all the rules I have. You know, make an account ahead of time, have all your stuff ready.
Speaker 2:Do not send me a rude message I, oh my God, I've had in the past. It has really slowed down now, thankfully, but in the first few launches I had women sending me videos of themselves crying, husband emailing me, begging me to just sell their wife one. I had this one like beauty and wellness influencer who missed the sale and she mentioned it to her audience and she had a pretty like 50,000 followers and they came after me and they were like you need to sell her one, you need to sell it, and it was just like. It has gotten very, very weird at times and so one of my huge boundaries is like call your mom, call your boyfriend, call your best friend. Do not send me a message about how upset you are that you didn't get one of these Like. I am literally trying my best and a lot of people respect that and a lot of people don't. You know they'll do the thing of like.
Speaker 2:I'm not complaining, but I just really wanted one you know, and sometimes you know, like this last round that I did. They sold out in 30 seconds and I even added like 15 more to the batch and they sold out again like in the same amount of time. And this girl messaged me and she was like you know, I wasn't lucky enough this round, but like this is incredible. Like she sent me this the nicest message and I sent her a private link and was like here, if you want to buy one, you can. Like it was I like being able to do that kind of stuff for people that are listening and paying attention and doing it right. Like she didn't complain, she was like happy for me, she was excited to cry again and I just said here you go, like it's your lucky day but yeah, it's. It is word of mouth for sure, that like I couldn't pay for that kind of publicity. It's like them posting on their Instagram and tagging me and it's been very special.
Speaker 1:Well, they are delightful, thank you. Yeah, well, and I think it's just what you said about it happening happening more or less organically. It's something that you wanted to do, that was fun for you to do. You showed people the process, the behind the scenes took them through the process. They're fun, they're lighthearted. I mean they hit their personalized. So I can see. I can see why.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I don't, to this day, don't have a rainbow mug, so I should probably do that. But yes, I do. I'm very thankful for those mugs, for sure. Yeah, that's great.
Speaker 1:Well, how do you support your creativity and also the boundaries that you need to put around that?
Speaker 2:You know, I will let you know when.
Speaker 1:I.
Speaker 2:That is such a great question. I mean that is something I've had to learn Like I've had to learn that creativity is not finite. You know that I don't have to live in the scarcity mindset of like it will go away or like I'm having a bad day. I work alone and that can be really hard for my creativity. So I try to spend as much time as I can like in a organized state with my creativity because if not, I get very like very freaked out, very stuck, very frozen, and then I start wasting time, wasting materials, and that can be that just like perpetuates the freak out a little bit.
Speaker 2:But I have learned that taking time away is like so crucial and critical for my creativity and that is one of the hardest things that I could possibly do, like I have such a hard time taking time off. My therapist today asked me when I rested and I was like I could not answer her question. So I don't know I think that's that was my initial hesitation with the question is, I think time helps me and I don't always allow myself that. I would like to think I'm getting a little bit better, but yeah, I don't know, mm-hmm, you do a lot of journaling, right, I do.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, does that help with it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it does I. What's funny is I started doing the artist's way with a small group of my friends. Have you ever worked through that?
Speaker 1:I've always made it like kind of to the same spot and then I fall off. It probably would be good to have a group that's probably very wise.
Speaker 2:That is exactly what has happened to me and we meet every Monday night virtually and it's been helpful because I've started to like reframe my ideas around creativity and like being an artist and how you have to like nurture it and nurture your inner artist. And you know, I think at times I have kind of rolled my eyes at the idea of, like you know, you need to let your inner artists play, but unfortunately it is incredibly true. And in journaling I have, I deal with anxiety and I am able to kind of work through it on the page a little bit more. And the morning pages, which is a popular thing in the artist's way, where you wake up in the morning and you do three pages of journaling longhand, and that has been nice.
Speaker 2:It's also been I can feel myself resisting it, which is interesting. Like you can tell, I'm in like a phase of my life where things are not coming super easy for me. I feel like a little bit blocked and that can be for various reasons. It can be like help, the reasons. It can be like you know, insecurity about something you know. But yeah, I have a Hobonichi cousin which I will not stop talking about.
Speaker 2:It is like a Japanese planner. It has a yearly, monthly, weekly and daily sections, and in the daily sections.
Speaker 2:It is literally a page a day for a whole year and I have found so much joy around memory keeping and just like processing and you know, sometimes it's serious, like it's something happened and I need to talk about it and, like you know, work through it on the page and other times it's like here's an illustration of Taylor Swift, because I went to see her, you know, a couple weeks ago and I have just gotten like so much delight and like I feel very fulfilled in my creativity around that and in the past I would not have let myself take the time that I have been spending on this because I'm not getting paid for it.
Speaker 1:You, I mean. I was thinking that exactly there are two things I cannot. Yes, I was at Taylor Swift when you were. That's right, that's right. So I too have been stuck in a Taylor Swift, like Luke. Oh, I know my family's like how long is this going to last? I'm like I think it's coming to an end shortly. I think I can feel it. But the creating just for the sake of creating. Once you get some momentum and you're selling and that's what you're doing for your livelihood, it's tough.
Speaker 2:It's so hard, and even at work like I want to. I started as an oil painter and I have done years and years of acrylic painting and I love it and I will not let myself do it at work because I'm like these are work hours, this is the workplace and I do not have the. I cannot afford to spend the time on something that might not sell.
Speaker 1:I hate that.
Speaker 2:I hate it.
Speaker 1:What if you just carved out a tiny bit of time just to me? Because, like you, I mean I would assume that we're similar just because of being artists that as a kid that was your fun, like creating was so fun, and you know, for me it made me feel like not that I was special, but I found my thing, like oh, this is the thing. Like you know, I have a lot of siblings and they all had their things, but this was my thing and I loved it. I still love it so much. But yeah, I mean, I know what you're talking about. It. Sometimes it can, it can feel like work.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can compartmentalize a lot of my life and there's a part of me that rationalizes like, well, if I had a space at home to do this, then I'd be more likely to do it, because it wouldn't feel like work and it would feel like a separation, and we just don't have that. And so in my head I'm just like, well, you know, when we move to a bigger place, or you know where I, when I get, you know XYZ, whatever it is then I'll do it and that's never going to happen.
Speaker 2:So I just need to get it together and truly carve out the time and carve out the space to do it, because I think it would also like like make me a better ceramic artist. You know, when you can experiment in different mediums, and I mean that I when I was art journaling more and I mean I guess what I'm doing now is art journaling, but back in the day I was like inks were out, you know, watercolor was out, acrylic I had so many multimedia things happening.
Speaker 2:I was a much more like creative ceramic painter. I was like pushing the boundaries a little bit more, because I was inspired by other things and I haven't, you know, done that in a while. So I'm I would like to get back there.
Speaker 1:I always see, like on Instagram, the people that that stopped me scrawling to fags you and the people that have this very expensive art journaling practice, and I love watching it. I'm like I want to do that, I'm going to do that and I'm like I can't sell. I can't sell my art journal. I know like that I know, it's so frustrating.
Speaker 2:It's like why are we like this? And then I started thinking well, actually you could like, you'd probably scan in, and then I would get there. Yeah, exactly the same way.
Speaker 1:Yeah, do you set goals for yourself in your business?
Speaker 2:I am really bad at that, because they are either so large, like laughably large, that I cannot reach them and then I get disappointed, or they're just, like you know, finish these three things today, Like I don't know a middle ground. I used to use the. I'm a big planner person and I used to use this planner called the passion planner and after, like before every month and after every month, you'd have a like check in and you'd have to you know it was like meant to be accountability and you know, hold you to what you say you want to do and I would get to the end of the month and I wouldn't have the things to show for it and I would get so down on myself and like, so mad and like would stop using the planner because it was making me feel bad about myself.
Speaker 2:So I need to really check back in on like realistic goals. I mean do you, what do you do? Is that a practice for you?
Speaker 1:Yes, I yes, it is a practice for me. I mean, I have income goals and then I will, and I would say painting goals is a little bit loose If that's more based on my commitments that I already have. So I always meet those goals. Yeah, I do, I do set goals and I feel like it's a process that has evolved over time. You know, when you're just getting started, sometimes the goal is just to figure out your style and what you like to do, and then you have this big backup of work and you're like, well, I guess I'll sell this work. You know, so it's an interesting process. Yeah, I do set goals and I try to be nicer, you know, kind of myself when they, when, if I don't meet them, because I do find that even if I might not get the gold star goal, a lot of other things happen in the process.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a good way to look at it, like I can be very black and white about, you know, goal setting, like I used to.
Speaker 2:I started out, of course, the year with goals and intentions, and I would say, okay, I want to go to the gym 12 times this month, but then I wouldn't make it. I would only make it like eight times, but I had been to physical therapy like eight times and I wasn't allowing myself to count those workouts and physical therapy as like gym workouts, and I you know. So I get very, like you know, by the book about some stuff and I should be, looser about it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, I do feel like curiosity, like trying to be curious instead of critical for myself, has been really helpful, especially in those kind of areas, because I can be the same way for sure. That's nice. How do you celebrate your successes?
Speaker 2:You know that is a great question. I do these. You know, in my weekly planner there is a section and it says wins and you know, throughout the week I try to write something in there and it doesn't have to be huge and I'm getting a lot of comfort in that. But you know, in terms of like the bigger stuff, like I after a successful sale, or you know, like if we've made it through shipping or something like that, I am all about like a little treat you know, like that I am, so.
Speaker 2:I'm like literally celebrating with, like you know, a nice bottle of wine or, like you know, a pack of cookies or something, but yeah, I haven't really done anything. I wish I had a more like ritualistic way around it, but I don't. I should work on that, huh.
Speaker 1:Well, are you going to do anything to celebrate your thousand months, telling us a thousand months? Do you have a vacation plan soon?
Speaker 2:I'm working on it.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I want to do something like I wish I could throw a party. But again, I'm thinking everything about like well, how can I make money off of this? Like, can I sell a ticket to a thousand month party? Yeah, I'm so ridiculous. But yeah, that's a great idea, that's a good goal to like work towards is a fun celebration for a thousand months. I'll have a better answer for you next time we talk.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, that sounds good. I think you should celebrate. It's a huge yeah it is Practically speaking. How do you manage like the business part of your entrepreneurship and the creative part? Do you do it on separate days? Do you like have any systems? You know?
Speaker 2:I would love to be the person that's like it's Monday, it's Bookkeeping Day, or it's Website Day or it's Admin Day, and I am not that person Like. As much as I want a routine anytime, I try to have one. I get bored in it pretty quickly. I'm a big like let's make a list and let's cross it off, kind of thing, and I work more broadly in terms of like you know, this is what has to get done this month and I can plug it in, you know where it goes and kind of work around it. But no, I wish that I were. I'm also a huge fan of paying people to do the things for me. That.
Speaker 1:I don't want to do so.
Speaker 2:Bookkeeping is covered you know all this stuff is covered and I think that investment is like so worth it, because I am not the person that is good at that kind of stuff. You know, I feel like a lot of people that are creative fail because they're trying to do it all themselves and I learned pretty early on like I don't want to do that. You know I still should be a little more hands-on about that kind of stuff, but you know yeah.
Speaker 1:No, I mean, I think that is part of your organizational process or your planning process is knowing where your strengths and weaknesses are and getting people that are good at it to help you. That's a huge deal.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm in the process of trying to hire someone again.
Speaker 2:I had help last year and it just didn't work out and it has made me a little nervous to do it again because it was incredibly expensive and hard and I didn't nail it and I don't like to do things that I'm not very good at and I got thrown in like, basically, I hired someone too soon, like I needed to have a few other systems planned out, and I just got really behind on everything with trying to, you know, be the best boss I could and have them be the best employee. And I say all this because having another person in the studio that is able to, like you know, pick up where I'm not great and vice versa, like I know that I could grow so much more if I had someone, but I'm just struggling to find the right person. I like I really don't know how to hire someone for what I need.
Speaker 1:So you're talking about, like a studio assistant, not a VA, that kind of thing. Yeah, that would be amazing. Yeah, you'll figure it out. Yeah.
Speaker 2:I hope so, especially, like you know, christmas starts earlier and earlier.
Speaker 1:And so yeah.
Speaker 2:I would love to have someone even next month. So if you hear of anyone, drop into a D.
Speaker 1:If you could go back to when you started this whole journey, would you do anything different?
Speaker 2:Hmm, I mean no, I don't think so. I think I would have maybe. I mean, I think it's easy to say no, I think it's also easy to say yes. If I would have done anything differently. I think I would have hired an accountant sooner, maybe like felt less fear around, like asking questions I didn't know the answers to. You know, in terms of like taxes and even really understanding like LLC versus Escorp.
Speaker 2:You know stuff like that, that yeah no, I didn't learn anywhere and you know I have been Googling forever. Like I wish I would have had a firmer understanding of that stuff before I really jumped in and I trusted a lot of people early on. I didn't trust in myself enough and I trusted in others too much and I regret that. Like it has, I've made mistakes in that area with, like I've lost friends because of it. But I also, like didn't really necessarily get started on the right foot because I didn't believe I think I could do it Basically.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. And it's like when you have this idea, like you get so far out to the end, like where you want to be, like okay, this is the thing that I want to be, this is the goal, whether you articulate it that way for yourself or not, but you have this vision for yourself, but then you're way back here, at the starting line. You have to back up. You have to back up so much just to get started.
Speaker 2:Totally yeah, and you know some. There were parts of it. And even now, like I don't necessarily know where I'll be next year, and I have felt that way for a long time. You know every year, I don't think I could have guessed this is where I would be next year. Sometimes it's really good, sometimes it's not so good. So that has been an interesting like. I wish I guess part of me like wishes I could tell myself that you know, three years ago I could be like it's okay that you don't fully know what's coming, you'll be fine. But I also kind of wish, like three years from now I could come tell me that you know or be like.
Speaker 2:Actually, this is what you're supposed to be doing. So yeah, I'm definitely in, like I'm in a little bit of a growing pain area. I don't know if you have felt like that at different stages where you are.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Yeah, I know this is going to sound totally woo, but I'm I'm all in for this. Do you ever do any future self visualization or future self work where you I haven't in a while.
Speaker 2:I should pick that up again. Does that that you find that helpful?
Speaker 1:I do find it helpful in that, if nothing else, it just gives me some comfort in the knowledge that I've always figured it out, even if I don't know what the maybe next five steps might be, I always end up figuring it out some, some way somehow.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do write that in my journal a lot Like I've figured it out before. I'll figure it out again. You know, yeah, yeah, that I should do that for sure.
Speaker 1:And I also like to, when I'm feeling overwhelmed, like okay, what's just the next right step? I don't have to know the next 10. Just like, what do I do? Next one thing, totally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is so helpful. I tend to bite off more than I can chew, and that is a very good reminder yeah, definitely.
Speaker 1:Well, this has been delightful. I completely agree. Yeah, what do you? What do you have going on? What are you writing, besides mugs? Well, that's done, right, that sales over that sale?
Speaker 2:Yeah, they're being fired and processed.
Speaker 1:How often do you have those sales?
Speaker 2:You know I used to do them like every I. Well, I forgot to mention this part, but I used to be on WordPress that's where my website was hosted and so many people were trying to purchase a mug, like I put up, like you know, anywhere between 30 to 40 mugs every sale.
Speaker 2:And you know, let's say I would put up 30 mugs and something about the platform like could not handle the amount of people on it and like the too many people were clicking purchase at the same time and the website would literally like glitch and break and let, like it, minimum double in. So I would be, you know, I would think I was on the hook for 40. And then actually I'd get 80 orders. So, but still, you know, I'm being like well, I'll get them out to you between four to six weeks. So for a very long time I was doing like every six weeks I would do rainbow mug sales and I had to take a big break. I took probably like a six month break from them. Actually, god, probably more like it. The one in April was my first rainbow sale mug of the year, rainbow mug sale of the year and I'll do it again.
Speaker 2:Now I'm ready, like I had that break and it was nice and I, you know, you know feel good about them again and so I will have another one. Like, if not the end of this month again, like almost almost every other month is kind of where I'm at.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right, nice, very good. Well, what else do you have going on? Because you said you have your Instagram audit. Is that still something you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I open up about like six or seven of those at a time Because they I do spend a lot of time on them. I've got those happening. I've got a branding class coming up this Sunday which I'm really excited about, just kind of like teaching, you know, service based business or product space business, like how to show up on Instagram and like you know, not feel like you have to talk about like what you ate for lunch, but you know, if that's part of who you want to be, that's fine too, to sell your stuff and to to kind of stand out. And yeah, I've got a spring shop update which is kind of eking into summer shop update happening in June and I think I might do a couple more markets this year.
Speaker 1:I don't know, oh really, yeah, yeah, it's local.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been approached for one. My hair salon actually is doing like a Pride month kind of very small market and they were like they asked if I would, if I would do something. I was like okay, I'm nervous, I get really apprehensive to do those because I could just sell it online.
Speaker 1:Yeah, did you start it out doing markets?
Speaker 2:Did you say I've done a couple of them over the years for myself and, like many, many, for the studio that I worked at, and it's just, it's the hardest work out there.
Speaker 1:I got started doing festivals and it was brutal.
Speaker 2:It's so hard, it's exhausting the amount of work you have to put in beforehand and like set up and take down and be there Like it is just. I think I don't know that everybody understands how hard that work is. I hats off to anyone that can do that. I don't know that.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree, I feel like I keep my tent, you know, because you have to have a 10 by 10 tent in my garage. It's like a safety net, like I always go back to doing. I'm like I'm never going to do that though.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but you saw you doing live painting recently, right, oh, yes.
Speaker 1:Was that fun, and it was at a gallery there. You know I was nervous getting started I was.
Speaker 1:I mean, I had done. I did that years ago when I first started and I didn't know what I was doing at all. And this time I thought it through and talked to the owner, the gallery owner and had a plan and you know, it was fun. People are just so interested and interesting. It makes you have a lot. It gave me. It always makes me feel appreciative of what I'm doing and what people want to know and they want to see it and they're interested and interesting and ask really cool questions that I wouldn't think are interesting. So it gives me a better appreciation of what we do. So, yeah, that's cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would love to do something like that. But yeah, I mean, it's a lot of work. You know all of it. It's just awesome work and people have no filter. You know I talk about people in a filter on the internet. There have been markets where I've gone to where they will like pick up a mug and be like you want how much for this? Like I could go and get it for $10 and you know I have to be like okay, well, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, or my kid could have done this like that. Or yeah, yeah, yeah. All the things that people might say. I'm like okay, let you just keep moving. Yeah, well, that's awesome. Where can people find you?
Speaker 2:They can find me primarily on Instagram. That's where I spend most of my time at Ameol, amm, ie, yall and then, yeah, that's about it. I'm pretty much always there.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, this has been a delight. Yeah, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, of course, of course. I hope you have a good rest of your day. Are you going to work or are you done for the day?
Speaker 2:You know it's. I don't know if you know this, but it is Atlanta hot dog week. What it is Are you going? I'm going to Reds over I don't know if you've been there before, but it is very nice. It's like owned by a husband and wife, like they're young, cute, so fun, like a lot of good beers. It's over on Boulevard, okay, near do you know prison tacos yeah, it's like right near there.
Speaker 1:So Okay, really so funny.
Speaker 2:I did not know it was in a hot dog week.
Speaker 1:Who knew?
Speaker 2:There you go, that's and that is a testament to email marketing, because I got an email and I said all right well, I'll change my dinner plans, that's awesome.
Speaker 1:I thought you were going to say you're going to skip, nope.
Speaker 2:No, I've only been there once, if you can believe it.
Speaker 1:I know that I'm from Illinois and I lived in Chicago for a long time and I will say their Chicago dog is legit.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's good to know. Yeah, I need to give them another try. It's one of those places that's like if I want to eat there, I cannot go back to work because I need a nap, like that's what happens to me last time?
Speaker 1:Yes, absolutely. And their french fries are really good too, I will say.
Speaker 2:So good, yeah, well, have fun, I learned so many things today All right.
Speaker 1:It was great. See you you too. Thanks, all right, bye, bye. Thank you so much for listening to Mind Over Medium podcast today. If you found the episode inspiring, please share it with a friend or post it on social media and tag me on Instagram at lianslotkin, or head to my website, wwwlianslotkincom, to booka discovery call to find out more about working with me one on one. You can also head to my website to get a great tool I've created for you to use when planning your own online launch of your artwork. It's an exercise I've taken many of my coaching clients through and it's been very helpful. It's my way of saying thank you and keep creating.